Definitions
Definitions
1 Síra
m. indecl.; though so spelt, it is by old people in Icel. sounded sera, commonly, however, and less correctly séra, [a Romance word borrowed from the French]:—sirrah (a word now only used contemptuously), sir, master; the word is in Art. S. used as an address to a knight, Síra Ivent, etc.; but this saga is a translation from the French. In Norway and Icel. the word appears at the end of the 13th century (Arna S., Hák. S. Gamla, Ann. after 1260, Laur. S.), and is then used of priests only, as it is in Icel. at the present day a recognised title of a priest, and with the Christian name only, so that a clergyman is never named without this title,—Síra Hallgrímr, Síra Þorkell; thus in the ditty, Síra Ólafr á Söndum, | sálina og vísur kvað; Síra Hallgrímr hagr | á hróðrar smíðið var; hann Síra Jón, etc.; cp. Old Engl. sir, used of priests, with the Christian name only, as Sir Hugh, etc., in Shakespeare.
Runic Inscription
Runic Inscription
Síra
The runic text above represents the Old Norse word "Síra" as it might appear in runic inscriptions from the Viking Age (c. 800-1100 CE).